I almost missed my bus too. It was so noisy last night due to the gangs of muflerless motorbikes racing all night I had to put my earplugs in. I usually wake up in the middle of the night and take them out, but not this time, so I was awakened by the ticket girl knocking on my door at 8:30, when I was supposed to get on the taxi to the bus station. I managed to get dressed and packed in five minutes. The pile of stuff I abandoned (Lord of the Rings book, hiking shorts, blank CD-R's, CD case) was eagerly accepted by the guesthouse lady. I seem to be abandoning at least one item at each place I stay.

I caught the taxi and made it to the bus station with time to spare. The bus was nice, with big, fluffy, reclining seats, and a stewardess. I was pretty excited about the stewardess because (1) I've never been on a bus with a stewardess and (2) I figured if there was a stewardess, she would be busy the whole time distributing snacks and meals. Unfortunately all she did was take our tickets, and pass out a little pasty, a tiny water bottle, and a wet-nap. So she worked for about 5 minutes of the 12 hour trip.

I figured all the passengers would be farangs, but it turned out except for me and a Korean girl they were all Thai. Unfortunately they were all equipped with cell phones that played annoying tunes very loudly every time they rang, which was continuously.

We stopped at 3 pm at a roadside restaurant, and in true Thai fashion there was no announcement on what was going on, not even in Thai. I wandered in to the restaurant and a waitress motioned for me to sit at a table with the other passengers and said "free." So I had a free meal of rice, a big spicy fish you pick off the bone, and vegetables. Nobody said a thing until everyone left except for one Thai woman, who then asked me how long I had been in Thailand and where I was going. She was amazed when I explained I was traveling alone, and was excited when I said I was on Kho Pha Ngan. I asked her if she liked living in Bangkok, and she said it was "OK sometimes."

We got in to Bangkok at 9, and the Korean woman and I split a taxi to Khao San Road, the infamous tourist ghetto (see the film "The Beach," or better yet, read the book), which I took one look at and immediately hated. It's a zoo packed with farang hippies, cowboys, and freaks, with loud music, crappy restaurants, and Thais dressed up selling stupid shit like disco globes. It's like Haad Rin on a massive scale, but without the redeeming quality of a beach nearby. The Korean girl went to a "Korean guest house," which seems a bit silly to me. The last place I would want to stay is an "American guest house," so I followed directions from the Cyber-Nomad to a hotel, where I got a grotty air con room for $8. Tomorrow I'll check out the guest house he stayed at, but for now I want a quiet room to myself.